Advancing Diversity and Inclusion Across US Engineering Disciplines Post 2025
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "STEM Education".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 46
Editors
Interests: broadening participation; equity, inclusive excellence in STEM; the role of AI in BME curricula; interdisciplinary research; intersectionality; teamwork; engineering identity construction
Interests: stem access, identity and pathways—understanding how learners develop interest, belonging and persistence in stem across the lifespan; inclusive and supportive learning environments—advancing mentoring, neuroinclusive practices, faculty development and student well-being; community-engaged stem ecosystems—leveraging families, faith communities, informal learning spaces and media to broaden participation in stem
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Education Science Special Issue, “Advancing Diversity and Inclusion Across US Engineering Disciplines Post 2025”, will examine strategic approaches to counter the current national conversation attacking diversity and inclusion. We are calling for Special Issue articles or review proposals focusing on the academic and lived experiences of STEM professionals committed to diversity and inclusion while navigating unwelcoming or hostile environments on campuses of higher education. The scope and aim of the journal is to provide a scholarly peer-reviewed international open access platform committed to providing inclusive and equitable global access to research that relate timely high-quality research findings across a broad range of topics. The purpose of this Special Issue is to (1) increase awareness of successful programs or initiatives that have benefited a broad range of students to fully participate in STEM disciplines, (2) update our educational focus that deconstructs the false narrative that acknowledging systemic inequality is not “reverse discrimination”, (3) demonstrate that focusing on inclusion will put engineering in a position to achieve diversity goals and (4) contribute to a national research agenda to create an inclusive STEM culture.
Authors are invited to submit an article or review in which they describe initiatives, programs or empirical research with clear evidence of desired outcomes related to diversity and inclusion. Authors are encouraged to provide a detailed description of their approach to navigating shifting national priorities within their local context and what steps should be taken to prevent returning to this illogical national dialog about the role of diversity and inclusion in education, particularly higher education. Author reflection on their positionality is highly encouraged through appropriate theoretical the lens such as critical theory or intersectionality. The Guest Editors are especially concerned with accurately representing experiences across the engineering profession. Scholars with transformational innovative ideas are encouraged to submit a proposal with proper justification of a significant shift in our current practices. Authors are also encouraged to provide solutions to improve pedagogical, programmatic and research paradigms they bring to make engineering more equitable and inclusive. There will be a blind review of each submitted initial proposal. The audience of this Special Issue includes STEM students, practitioners, faculty and administrators. The initial 250 word proposal is due August 1, 2026, and authors will be notified of accepted chapter proposals by Sep 1, 2026. Final manuscripts will be approximately 7,000–10,000 words written in APA style.
Dr. Kelly J. Cross
Dr. Whitney Gaskins
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- inclusive excellence
- equity in higher education
- critical theory
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
